Method of binding a shoe upper



April 1l, 1939. R. A, CROSBY 2,153,613

METHOD OF BINDING A SHOE UPPER Filed July 21, 193e 12 /0l l f8 o f4 T13. l.

Patented Apr. 11, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF BINDING A SHOE UPPER Application July 21, 1936, Serial No. 91,749

5 Claims.

This invention relates to shoe uppers and to methods of binding the edges thereof. In the specific embodiment herein described, the binding covers the edges of both upper and lining.

In the manufacture of shoe uppers, the edge of the upper, especially at the shoe opening, is frequently provided with a finish known as French binding in which silk tape is first stitched to the margin of the upper material and then foided over the edge of the material and-secured in place, as by cement. The upper is then provided with a lining which, if it is of leather, usually has a raw edge and is s-ecured around the margin of the shoe opening by top stitching passing through the upper and the lining very close to the rolled edge of the binding. The lining may be trimmed before or after its attachment but, in any case, the upper edge of the lining is apt to be conspicuous since frequently it has a color contrasting with that of the upper leather. An object of the invention is to provide an improved shoe upper in which the edges of the lining and the upper are both concealed by a binding material.

In accordance with a feature of the invention and as illustrated, the edges of the binding are inturned and secured to the upper and the lining separately by concealed stitches.

Still another object of the invention is to devise an improved method o-f binding shoe uppers in order to provide the improved construction just set forth. rJChis method is illustratively described as characterized by the attachment of the binding to both the upper material and the lining by throughand-through stitching and the subsequent inversion of the parts to conceal the stitching and the raw edges of the parts. These rows of stitches for the attachment of the bindn ing to the respective parts are spaced from one another across the binding a distance just suicient to cause the binding to be drawn tightly across the edges of the upper material and the lining when the component parts are turned inside out. In other aspects, the method provides for the retention in the desired superposed relation of the lining and the upper material` either by the customary through-and-through top stitching or by interposed adhesive, either applied directly to the parts or partly or wholly by means of an interposed coated tape.

The invention will be more fully set forth in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 illustrate diagrammatically and on an enlarged scale successive steps in the method of attaching a binding to the component parts of a shoe upper;

Fig. 5 illustrates on a similar scale a cross seotion on the line V-V of Fig. 6 of a completed upper; m

Fig. 6 shows this upper embodied in a shoe;

Fig. '7 illustrates a variation in which an interposed reinforcing tape is provided, and

Fig. 8 shows a modified structure in which the edge of the lining is thinned by skiving it prior im) to its incorporation in a shoe.

In carrying out the method, a piece of upper material IU, which may be of leather having a grain surface I2 and flesh surface I4, is provided with a piece of binding material I 6. This is 15 wholly superposed on the upper material with the edges in register and is attached thereto by a row of stitches I8 somewhat spaced from the edges, leaving a projecting margin, but otherwise in accordance with the first step of the usual 20,. French-binding process. The nished or grain surface of the upper material which is to be eX- posed and the finished surface of the binding which is to be exposed are face to face. As here in illustrated, the binding material is of grosgrain 25A silk having selvaged edges similar to what is used in the well-known French-binding process.

It will be understood, however, that other materials may be substituted andthat, in view of the fact that both edges of the binding are ulti- 30 mately concealed, it is not essential that it shall have selvaged edges. The next step in the method, as shown in Fig. 2, is similar to that employed in the French-binding process and turns the binding I6 outwardly into a horizontal 35 position beyond the edge 20 of the upper material, this step being known as straightening in the French-binding method. The following step differs radically from that previously employed and attaches a lining 22 to the outturned binding 40. I6 by means of a seam 24 (Fig. 3). The edge of the binding and the edge 26 of the lining are ush, i. e., in register, and the distance between the rows of stitches i8 and 24 is important, as will later appear. This row of stitches 2li will 45 also usually be spaced from the edge to leave a small margin which projects beyond the row of stitches. It will be understood that the lining material, when positioned for this stitching operation, has its finished or grain side 28, which y is to be exposed, adjacent to the binding i5 and its flesh side 3i), which is to be concealed, away from it. In forming the seam 24 it may be found desirable to invert the work piece shown in Fig. 3. In the next step of the method, the

upper and lining are turned inside out, being brought first to the position shown in Fig. 4 and then to that shown in Fig. 5 with the edges of the upper and lining flush. From this figure, it will be seen that the distance between the lines of stitches transversely of the binding I6 is just sufficient so that the binding material is drawn tightly across the edge of the completed upper, this tightening being effected at least in part by the projecting margin on one part. If desired,

the tools of a beading machine or a thin blade` held by the user may be inserted between the lining and the upper to insure the straightening of the margins thereof into the position shown in Fig. 5.

It will then usually be found desirable to secure the lining and the upper against relative displacement in the plane of the contacting faces thereof and this result may be attained in various ways. In Fig. 5, it is accomplished by a row of stitches 32, commonly known as top stitching, which enters the upper l0 so closely adjacent to the turned-over edge of the binding that it is almost invisible in the finished product. This top stitching 32 will pass through the lining and emerge in substantially the same relation with respect to the inturned edge of the binding and hence will be almost invisible there. A simi- .lar result may be obtained by the interposition of a layer of adhesive 34, as shown in Fig. 8, and this may be accompanied by top stitching 36, as shown in that modification, or not, as desired. ft may be found desirable to reduce the thickness of the edge of the lining, as shown in Fig. 8, by providing it with a skived edge 38, as there shown, prior to the stitching together of the lining and the binding, it being understood that in this arrangement the stitching 40 which secures the binding to the lining will usually be positioned at a much greater distance from the edge of the lining than is the case in applying the stitching shown in Fig. 3, in order that the stitching shall pass through a strong portion of the lining. in this form, the lining and upper are brought into a superposed position so chosen that the binding is drawn tight around the edges and this position is then maintained as by the adhesive 34.

It is frequently desirable to reinforce the foot opening 42 of the shoe S in order to avoid stretching thereof and this can readily be accomplished in conjunction with the other steps of the method by securing a reinforcing tape 44 to the upper by means of the row of stitches I8 employed for attaching the binding IB to the upper material IU. In this case, the binding material I6 and the reinforcing tape 44 preferably are positioned on opposite sides of the upper material l0 and attached thereto simultaneously by the same row of stitches I8. It is, however, wholly within the scope of my invention to provide this reinforcing tape li with adhesive on one or both faces thereof and this adhesive may be one example of the so-called cold type, which is normally not particularly tacky to the touch but which adheres under suitable pressure without activation, or it may be of the thermoplastic type and require the application of heat to activate it and cause it to adhere to the upper material or the lining or both.

Although the diagrammatic illustration of Figs. l to 5, 7 and 8 indicate that the binding and the edges of the material form a square edge on the nished product, it is found in actual practice that the binding assumes a somewhat rounded condition, as shown in Fig. 6, due to the inherent yieldability of the materials employed. The finish at the top of the shoe around the foot opening 42 is made attractive by the concealment of the edges of the upper material and the lining material and of the stitches attaching the binding i6 thereto.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The method of binding the edge of a shoe upper having a lining, which consists in stitching a narrow strip of binding to the upper material at a distance from ythe edge of said upper and in wholly superposed relation to the surface thereof to be exposed, superposing the binding and lining with the faces thereof which are to be exposed in contact and with the free edge of the binding material substantially registering with the edge of the lining material, stitching them at a distance from the registering edges, and bringing the upper and lining together back to back with the binding covering the edges of both materials and concealing both rows of stitches, the spacing of said stitches from the edges of the materials relative to the width of said binding material being such as to cause the binding material to be automatically drawn tight around the edges when the materials are back to back.

2. The method of binding the edge of shoe upper material having a face to be exposed together with a lining having a face to be exposed, which consists in stitching a narrow strip of binding material to the edge of the upper material in wholly superposed relation to the surface thereof to be exposed, lifting the free edge of the binding material from the upper material and stitching said free edge to the edge of the lining material with their surfaces which will be exposed in the completed shoe face to face, and bringing the upper and lining together in backto-back relation with their edges flush whereby the binding covers the edges of both materials and conceals the rows of stitches, said stitching having such a spacing from the edge of one material relative to the width of the binding and the thickness of the composite layer that the binding is drawn tight over the edges.

3. That method of preparing a shoe upper, which consists in attaching a binding material and a piece of reinforcing tape to opposite faces of the shoe upper with one edge of each flush with the edge of the upper, straightening the binding material to cause it to extend beyond the edge of the upper, stitching the free edge of the binding to the edge of a lining substantially flush therewith, and turning the lining inside out and attaching its to--be-concealed surface to the reinforcing tape in a superposed relation such that the binding is drawn tight over the edges.

4. The method of preparing a shoe upper, which consists in providing a piece of upper material, a piece of lining material having a skived edge and a piece of binding material, stitching the binding material to the free edge of the upper material in register therewith, turning it back to cause it to extend beyond the upper material, stitching the free edge of the binding to the skived edge of the lining well back from the thin edge thereof and wholly superposed on the lining, turning the lining inside out to draw the binding over the edge of the upper, and securing the lining material in asuperposed relation to the upper material such that the binding is drawn tight over the edges.

5. The method of preparing a shoe upper,

the lining substantially in register with the edge of the lining and with their finished surfaces face to face, turning the lining inside out and drawing the binding tight over the edge of the upper, and

securing said lining to the upper by adhesive in 5 that relation.

ROBERT A. CROSBY. 

